Gamecocks’ Boston named SEC player of the year, top defender

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — South Carolina’s Aliyah Boston is the Southeastern Conference women’s basketball player of the year. She has also been named the league’s defensive player of the year for the third straight season. The top-ranked Gamecocks’ star headlined the honors that were released Tuesday and voted on by the league’s coaches. Her coach, Dawn Staley, won her fifth SEC coach of the year honor. Arkansas’s Samara Spencer was named freshman of the year and Mississippi’s Angel Baker was picked as sixth woman of the year. Georgia’s Mikayla Coombs was named the top scholar-athlete. The first-team All-SEC list included Boston and South Carolina teammate Destanni Henderson.